The Canadian Education Statistics Council (CESC) is composed of the deputy ministers responsible for education in the provinces and territories of Canada, the Chief Statistician of Canada, and ex officio the Director General of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) and the Director General responsible for the Education Statistics Program in Statistics Canada. CESC meetings are scheduled to coincide with the meetings of the Advisory Committee of Deputy Ministers of Education (ACDME) and are co-chaired by the Chief Statistician and a member of ACDME.

Strategic Management Committee (SMC)
The Strategic Management Committee is composed of an assistant-deputy minister-level representative from each of the ministries and departments responsible for education and training in the provinces and territories, along with representatives from CMEC and Statistics Canada. SMC is chaired by the Director General of CMEC.

SMC provides high-level management for CESC projects, acting on recommendations from subcommittees and on information provided by Statistics Canada and CMEC staff.

The mandate of SMC is to

•  review and recommend to CESC policy options and priorities for
   Canadian education statistics;
  
  
•  propose strategies and recommend an annual work plan and budget
   to CESC for the implementation of policy options and priorities
  
  
•  monitor progress in implementing the work plan and recommend
   any necessary adjustments
  
  
•  review the outcome of CESC activities and propose dissemination
   mechanisms for its products

Responsibilities of SMC include providing policy direction and approving the proposed plans for work on both the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program (PCEIP) and the Pan-Canadian Education Research Agenda (PCERA), as well as making recommendations to CESC, where appropriate, and coordinating participation in international projects. Because education is a provincial/territorial responsibility, Statistics Canada's Centre for Education Statistics seeks the advice and support of SMC in the course of carrying out its data collection and reporting initiatives.